President George W. Bush’s proposed 2006 budget does not include funding for Amtrak service, which could push the rail service into bankruptcy and possibly shut it down.
Last year, Amtrak was funded at $1.2 billion. The budget does provide $360 million for continued commuter and freight operations in the Northeast corridor if Amtrak is forced into bankruptcy, Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn said in a statement to employees regarding the budget proposal.
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“(The budget) isn’t accompanied by any kind of plan for how Amtrak could continue operations. … (The administration has) no plan for Amtrak other than bankruptcy,” Gunn stated. “Obviously, the proposal is irresponsible and a surprising disappointment.”
This year, Amtrak is spending $1.4 billion, of which $1.2 billion is from a federal appropriation to support operations and capital programs across the country.
Amtrak owns and operates 400 miles of tracks in the Northeast corridor between Washington and Boston, using more than 1,700 trains a day including freight, commuter trains and high-speed rail service.
“Intercity passenger rail is a major transportation option for New England. Losing it would be devastating to the region,” said James T. Brett, president of the New England Council, a regional business organization that promotes economic development.
During fiscal year 2004, 82 percent of the passengers who rode the high-speed Acela Express train were business travelers. The Acela runs from Washington, D.C., through Boston, Providence and New York. On both the Acela and regional rails, 55 percent of travelers were businesspeople, Amtrak reports.
A shutdown of Amtrak would affect service for eight commuter railroads that operate over Amtrak-owned or operated infrastructure throughout the Northeast. More than 750,000 commuters use the service on a daily basis.
“The Northeast corridor is an extremely busy part of the system. Many people rely on it to travel through the congested Northeast region, and a big percent of that is business travel,” Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said. “It’s a lifeline in New England, especially when bad weather affects airports and roadways.”
In recent years, particularly with the introduction of high-speed rail service along the Northeast corridor, the transportation has become a success in New England.
Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee was co-sponsor to a bill that would allocate $1.4 billion to Amtrak, but the amendment failed.
“The president said he will set aside $360 million to keep Amtrak running in the Northeast corridor if Amtrak funding dries up. We are hearing that the administration has cut funding to force Amtrak into bankruptcy so they have to reorganize and become a smaller organization that runs more efficiently,” Chafee’s spokesman Stephen Hourahan said.
Because Amtrak operates in 42 states, it has strong congressional support and will likely receive funding in Congress, though the budget will be tight, Brett said.
The Bush administration said it cut federal funding for the service because the system runs on a deficit.
“Amtrak has been starving for years. The federal government gives it just enough money to operate and nothing for infrastructure improvements,” Brett said.
Amtrak is in the midst of a five-year capital improvement plan to update and repair its equipment and infrastructure. Some of the most significant infrastructure needs are in New England. Three bridges in Connecticut – the Thames River Bridge, the Niantic River Bridge and the Connecticut River Bridge – are all at least 85 years old and in need of replacement.
These bridges frequently open and shut to allow ships to pass through. If that mechanism fails, service between New York and Boston would be cut off. Forty Amtrak trains run over these bridges daily and maintain passenger service on one of the most heavily traveled rail corridors in the country, the New England Council reports.
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has been negotiating with Amtrak to get service south of Providence to Warwick if a Warwick Intermodal Station is built. The DOT would have to add track and electrify the existing tracks because Amtrak trains work on electricity, as opposed to other trains that service the area, which run on diesel fuel.
The additional rails and rail work would cost an estimated $50 million, which neither the state nor Amtrak has, said DOT Director Jim Capaldi.
Instead, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority would service the area south of Providence on existing tracks owned by Amtrak. Capaldi is currently negotiating an access fee for the service, which would eventually extend down to Wickford Junction. The state is offering to spend up to $1.5 million per year for six years, but Amtrak is asking for $3.5 million.
Those negotiations are expected to be complete by the end of May, Capaldi said.
Building the intermodal station also depends on passage of a federal highway bill, which would allow Rhode Island to shift $38 million in unused funds to its development. The bill is expected to pass in June.
